The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-02-25

| after you are dead. And vet You hold on
to this world with the avidfty of the miser
/ who persisted in having his bonds and
mortgages and notes of hand in the bosom
OF his dressing-gown while he was dying,
and in the last moment held his parch-
ment in such tight grip that the under
| taker after death must almost break the
mans fingers in order to get the bonds
away.
Men are actually making that choice,
| while there are others who have done far
/ differently When they tried to bride
with money Martin Luther, some one said 4:
There's no use trying to do that-that
Dutch beast cares nothing for gold"
W nen they tried by giving him cardin-
| ais hat to bride Savonarola, he stood up
in his pulpit and cried out:
Il WI have no red hat. save that of
nartyrdon, colored with my own blood -
1nese men chose Christ amid great per
secuuons; but how many there are IN this
day, when Christianity seems to be popu-
lar, who are ashamed of Christ and not
willing TO take the hardships-the seem
ing hards =; ps-of his religioni And alas
IeE tueml for long after the crash of the
world demolition they shall find that in all
these years they were turning their backs
upon the palaces of Heaven, scrabbling
on the door Of this worlds treasure house,
| the saliva of terrific lunacy on their liDs
horribly and overwhelmingly playing
| the fool
Once more i say to you that those men
play the fool who, while they admit the
| Righteousness Of religion, set it down for
| future attendance. Do you know how
many times the word s'now' occurs in the
| Bible? Over 200 times. One of the short
est words IN the Bible and yet one of the
! grandest in meaning and ramifcations.
| When does the Bible say is the best time
to repent4 Now. When does the Bible say
that God win forgive9 Now. When does
God say is the only safe time to attend to
/ matters Of the soull Now. But that word
| now melts away easily as snow
flake in the evening rain. Where is the
now" Of the dead of last year2 the ''now''
Of the dead of last month"; the now of
the dead of last week} t he "now'' of the
dead Of yesterdays Time picked it up in
its beak and few away with it.
greet you to-day, my brother, in the
very gate of eternity. Some of US may
live longer, and some of US may live a
shorter time; but, at the longest, life is
50 short that I feel we all stand on the
doOr-sill of the great future. The next
step-au the angels of God can not undo
the consequences. VIII your exit from
this life be a rising or a fallngl The
righteous go up. The Saviour helps them.
Ministering spirits meet them. The doors
VI pdEaulSC open 10 receive IueIu- Up J
upi upi 0, what a grand thing it is to
die with a strong faith in God, like that
which Stonewau Jackson had when, in his
expiring moments, he said:
"Let US cross over the river, and lie
down under the shade"
But to leave this world unpreparedly is
falIing-falling from God, telling from
hope, falling from peace, falling from
Heaven-swiftly falling, wildly falling,
forever falling.
Awake, mani awake, womqni from the
phentasia, real or affected Take Christ
Escape for eternity Just see what has
been done for you. Lift the th0rny cap
from the brow of Jesus, and see the price
that was paid for your liberation. Look
at the side, and see where the spear went
in and moved round and round, amid
broken arteries, the blood rushing forth
in awful sacrifice for your sins. o, wrap
those bare and mutilated feet of the dying
Lord in your womanly lap, Tor they were
torn IN hard tramp for your souli o,
for tears to weep over this laceration of
Christ! o, for a broken heart TO worship
him o, for an omnipotent impulse strong
enough 10 throw this whole audience
down at the teet of a crucifed and
risen Jesust We must repent. We
must believe. We must be saved. l can
not consent to have you lose your souls.
Come with me, and as in the summer time
we go down to the beach and battle in the
waters, so to-day let US join hands and
wade down into the summary sea Of Gods
forgiveness. Roll over us, tides of ever
lasting love, roll over usl Dear Lord, we
knock at the door Of mercy, not as the de
mented knock, not knowing what they
want, but knocking at the door Of mercy
because we want to come in, while others
run their meaningless hands up and down
the panels, and scrabble at the gate, in
the presence of God, and men, and angels,
and devils, playing the fool